Historical question..

[uncle tom]

For those who have been trawling old catalogues and literary references to port, a question:

When was Stilton cheese first associated with port?

I can't believe that the association was earned on gastronomic merits, so was it born of a rather successful promotion by the makers of Stilton at some point, or was it casually suggested by someone who was disproportionately influential - royalty perhaps, or Mrs Beeton maybe?

- I'm intrigued..

Tom

[RAYC]

I will be a contrarian and say that i actually quite like the combination - I much prefer it to any chocolate-based combination that i have had.

Partly just because i like stilton and i like port independently, and so both are a treat, but also because i often appreciate the saltiness of the stilton as we near the end of a tasting to give my palate a contrasting taste - seems to act as a bit of a cleanser. But you do need ports at the younger, robust and fruitier end of the scale, i feel.

The real tradition - as far as i was aware - was to gradually soak a whole stilton with port to moisten and enrich it before it was served whole and with a spoon to dig the cheese out - see here for a description. No idea how it arose - but my bet would be that it was cheese-driven rather than port-driven.

[g-man]

I find stilton and cheddar most enjoyable with tawnies acutally.

I can't stomach them witha ruby or vp though.

something abou the nuttiness and sweetness in the tawny amkes it a very nice pairing with the stilton.

[Glenn E.]

I'm with g-man, though with the added constraint that it needs to be one of the milder forms of Stilton. I just don't like the stinky/strong varieties of Stilton, so for me they just ruin the Port.

One of my favorite Port/cheese pairings is an older tawny with English Coastal Cheddar. I had a mango Stilton once that was nearly as good.